The Beast's Beauty
by linsadair
Summary: In which She shows him the truth.


For all of his humor, patience, honor and good nature he was consistently quiet, tightly wound and a frown was never far from his mouth. Each day was the same. It began and ended with the same stifling loneliness and his daily tasks were merely poor distractions that did little to ease his suffering.

He'd felt that way for as long as he'd known himself. He called it normal, his friends (even with their crass and worldly ways) called it longing. They suggested this or that, God love them, but he knew that they couldn't help him. They had never known him as anything else. But most of them were smart enough to know that what they knew of him wasn't actually _him_.

One day She appeared.

And everyone knew it was Her because of how he reacted. His jaw was on the floor and he didn't even feel the smoldering cigarette that left a hole in the knee of his faded black jeans on its doomed journey to the ground near his feet.

There was no lightning. No choirs of angels. No birds tweeting in circles around his head. The haze in which he lived and been long since comfortable shifted into crystal clear focus and the weight he'd been carrying around in the form of a black cloud suddenly lifted. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the freedom his lungs felt for the first time in forever and he took those few moments to rationally tell his own eyes to stop staring. They didn't listen of course. They wanted nothing more than to keep drinking in her gentle movements. They followed her as she perused the menu board on the wall, ordered a simple coffee drink and paid, fidgeted with the display mugs while she waited and finally received her drink and took it to the opposite end of the cafe to perch herself on a high stool and open her book, oblivious to everyone and everything.

Apparently, one of his friends knew her and called her over to introduce them. She brought her smile with her and he almost couldn't bear it. With it she unknowingly caressed his weary soul and it made him itchy. Their eyes met and he was sure she'd look away immediately. She didn't. He noticed that she wasn't afraid of him. Odd. Conversation lulled and he was sure she'd return to her book. She didn't. He'd never met a girl who didn't _need_ to fill the empty space with words.

The tightly wound armor he'd woven around himself to protect the heart he was certain no longer existed uncoiled a little and his sense of terminal loneliness dulled ever so slightly into a hum of numbness. Something scratched at the inside of his brain and told him there was another word for it, but he couldn't think of it. He was too busy trying not to think of her when she wasn't there to realize that the numbness was actually a feeling. He'd forgotten what feeling was. It was better that way. Feeling equaled pain in his experience.

But his friends knew better. They noticed he was marginally more _himself_ when she was around. He was less of a stone wall. The frown of pain softened. Get-Togethers were planned to include her as often as possible now.

She was kind to everyone and made a point to speak to each person that she saw. But her nights usually ended somewhere near him. He didn't really mind. He was just so darn _uneasy_ in her presence. The bear inside him had his hackles raised and was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. She'd become his friend somewhere along the way during one of their conversations. He was waiting for her to decide she was bored of it and move on. She didn't.

Instead she threw her head back and laughed at something he said, he can't remember what it was right now because his eyeballs had taken over again and they were riveted on her hand that happened to be on his forearm at the moment. It was warm. And comforting. And something in him was melting. She collected herself after the mirth subsided and he covered her hand with his. She smiled at him.

That single gesture changed everything.

His heart wrenched in two. It wasn't the bitter sting he'd been so desperately trying to avoid again. It was a medicinal break that was necessary for the healing balm of her companionship and acceptance to mend. _She _was soothing all of his rough edges and hard walls and broken, hurting, bleeding insides. The uneasy gave way to the wholeness and he couldn't help the smile that completely took over his face.

All of his friends noticed at once. They were glad to finally see _him_. All the "that's what she said" remarks and stupid pranks and dirty jokes in the world couldn't cover the fact that they really did care for him and were so happy to see the blinding smile no one had ever seen. He was suddenly transformed.

"Ah!" She said. "There you are, my Prince. I knew you were hiding under that beastly frown the whole time. I've been waiting for you."

She'd released him from his own spell.

**Thank you for reading :)**


End file.
